US military drone shot down over Yemen

U.S. Air Force officer passes in front of a MQ-9 Reaper drone, one of a squadron that has arrived to step up the fight against the Taliban, at the Kandahar air base, Afghanistan January 23, 2018. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military MQ-9 drone was shot down in Yemen's Dhamar governate, southeast of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

A Houthi military spokesman had earlier said that air defenses had brought down a U.S. drone.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the drone was shot down late on Tuesday.

This is not the first time a U.S. drone has been shot down in Yemen. In June, the U.S. military said that Houthi rebels had shot down a U.S. government-operated drone with assistance from Iran.

U.S. forces have occasionally launched drone and air strikes against Yemen's al Qaeda branch, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The group has taken advantage of a four-year-old war between the Houthi movement and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's Saudi-backed government to try to strengthen its position in the impoverished country.

One of the officials said that it appeared that the military drone had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile operated by the Iran-aligned Houthi group.

The official said that while losing a drone was expensive, it was not unprecedented and it was unlikely to lead to any major response by the United States.

The other official cautioned that it was too early to tell who was responsible for the incident.

Overnight, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria said that the drone had been shot down.

"The rocket which hit it was developed locally and will be revealed soon at a press conference," Saria said on Twitter.

"Our skies are no longer open to violations as they once were and the coming days will see great surprises," he added.

The drone shoot down comes as tensions between Iran and the United States have risen since President Donald Trump's administration last year quit an international deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and began to ratchet up sanctions. Iranian officials denounced the new penalties as "economic warfare".

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday Tehran may act "unpredictably" in response to the United States' "unpredictable" policies under Trump.